Watching and Waiting
by DCFanatic4life
Summary: Paul Levesque knows he has Stephanie, but does he really have all of her? Well we're about to tap into his mind...A love triangle...or is it? *Completed*
1. Chapter 1

**Disclaimer: The characters and real people in this story do not belong to me. The characters belong to WWE and the people own themselves. There's some mild swearing, but other than that, you're good to go!

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**A/N: So this came out of a discussion with someone about the Hall of Fame ceremony and how H had seemed possessive/uncomfortable over Stephanie while she was speaking with Chris and how Chris had touched Stephanie's stomach and H's reaction to it. Anyways, this is...different for me. Where I'd intended it to go is not where it ended up going, like at all. I'm actually surprised with where this ended up and the characters of it and have decided to extend it by maybe one more chapter.

Anyways, it's in H's point of view, which is way different for me. I've never really tapped into him before and I thought it'd be a dark, scary place, but then I ended up with this. Little nervous about how you'll like it, but like I always say, if you want to be brutal, go right ahead. So hope you enjoy and if you want to leave a review, please do because well...this story is so not me and I need to know if it's okay! :P

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He couldn't really explain his hatred for Chris Irvine, if you could even call it hatred to begin with. He knew that hate was a strong word, but whenever he saw the blonde man who seemed to shadow him like phantom, this ire drew up deep into his soul and bubbled and then it was like he saw red whenever Chris was around. He masked it well; it took him years to master it, but he was so good at the impassive mask now that he could be around the man and even sometimes pretend like there wasn't hatred or whatever hiding beneath his thick skin.

Except on this night, this night was different and he could feel it.

But he had to go back to before, before this night, before this year, before Chris's debut even. He had to go back to the phone call he'd received from Kevin Nash. He hadn't talked to the man in years, the Kliq had drifted apart and was now just another part of wrestling lore, but back then, when they'd been friends, they looked out for each other, like brothers, they always said. They were brothers. So Kevin had called him, told him everything he needed to know about a new recruit coming into the company.

"_You've got to watch out for this one," Kevin said, all joking evaporating from his voice. _

"_Kev, man, I don't see what the big deal is," Paul told him. He'd heard about the guy, Chris Irvine or Jericho as his ring name dictated. He didn't much watch WCW so he wasn't familiar with everyone there, but the guy was a cruiserweight over there and barely anything more so what did he have to fear. He was _finally_ getting the push he deserved and now that he was in the main event, he planned to stay there._

"_I'm telling you, he has it. Eric didn't like him for some reason, but I'm telling you, the guy's got talent, everyone here can see it but the higher-ups. I'm just warning you, if you don't want to lose your spot, look out for him."_

He'd not completely taken the words to heed, but he'd kept a close eye on the guy. He had to admit, when Chris debuted, he'd been impressed. He had the look, the skills, both in the ring and out, and Kevin was right, he did have the elusive "it" factor. Still, they traveled in separate circles and their storylines didn't converge so he didn't worry about the guy. He maintained his spot and Chris languished in the mid-card where he belonged.

Then he'd started a feud with Joanie. He'd been with Joanie at the time and he loved her. He loved everything about her and when she'd told him off-handedly one night that Chris had stiffed her a bit in the ring, he remembered the feeling, even now, years later, that bubbled for the first time in him. Yes, maybe that was the point where it truly began. He'd been so angry that night he'd wanted to seek out Chris and beat him, but Joanie had placated him, told him she actually liked it that Chris didn't treat her differently because she was a woman. He'd let it go that night.

But had he ever truly let it go?

When he'd started dating Stephanie she was already friends with the guy. He was personable it seemed because most everyone liked him. He'd never tell her who to be friends with and so they continued to be friends. Then they got closer…and closer…and closer…and he sat back and watched it all happen. They were just friends, Chris was married, but then she'd start going to bat for him during production meetings, they'd start hanging out at night and they had this relationship that Hunter wasn't a part of and maybe that's when the anger that had started with Joanie completed its journey to hatred.

Then it led him to tonight. Stephanie had been angry all day. He didn't know if it was because of the pregnancy because she never said anything to him about it. Not that she didn't say anything about the pregnancy in general, but Stephanie was one of those people who liked to suffer in silence. It was easier to believe that it was because of the baby and not because she was mad at him about something. She had seemed off for a few days now and he didn't know what to attribute it to. It had really come to a head the night before. They'd spent the day with the girls and then at night he proposed taking her to a fancy dinner. She'd agreed and he'd brought his family with them, Vince and Linda taking care of the girls.

Stephanie had been short and testy all evening, though only he could see it. She'd been polite and friendly with his parents and sister, even nicer to his nephew and niece, but it was a show that she was putting on quite well. She looked at her watch constantly, her hand just below the level of the table as she glanced at it. Sometimes he caught her sighing and then going back to her food, picking at it, but not really eating it. She took a few bites, then looked at her watch and then looked at her plate again. He'd been compelled to ask her if she had a better place to be, but he didn't want to tune in his family to his marital strife so he kept his mouth shut until they were in the hotel lobby after they'd all split up for the evening. The talent had to stay at an undisclosed location.

"_Is something wrong with you?" he asked, finally able to use the voice and tone he'd wanted to use all evening._

"_No, why?" she asked, but she was using that same testy voice she'd used before dinner._

"_Because you've been looking at your watch the entire night and I'm starting to think you have someplace better to be and if that's the case, maybe you should be there." He didn't mean to get so mad at her, but he was tired of her looking angry at him. It was starting to make him angry._

"_I'm sorry that I wanted to know the _time_," she snapped at him. She said nothing else to him as they went up to her room. "I'm going for a walk," she told him, going through her suitcase for something comfortable to wear. "Don't follow me."_

"_I'm not letting you out there this late at night," he told her. Was she crazy or something? Everyone knew they were in town for WrestleMania. There was nowhere she could go without being mobbed by people. "You're not going anywhere alone."_

"_Yes, I am," she told him. _

"_No, you're not."_

_She closed her eyes and rubbed her temples. "Look, I'm not going anywhere far and I'll put a baseball cap on or something and a big sweatshirt and nobody will know it's me, okay? I'll disguise myself. That way I won't get mobbed. Besides, I like the fans, I like interacting with them. I know that it isn't your favorite thing in the world, but I enjoy it."_

"_I just don't want you to get hurt or something," he told her, walking over and kissing her on the forehead and then kissing her lips, those sweet, moist lips. She kissed him back briefly and then pulled away. _

"_I'll be _fine_," she said, emphasizing the last word and drawing it out to far beyond its normal conclusion. "You worry too much about me, you know…"_

"_I'm supposed to change that?" he wondered incredulously._

"_Lighten up a little," she said, squeezing his bicep. "I promise, I won't be gone long."_

She was gone for three hours.

He'd been worried after the first hour, after the second hour, he'd been terrified and after the third hour and countless calls to her cell phone, she strolled into hotel room and he'd rushed to the door, enveloping her form into his own for that moment, she felt so very small. She hugged him back and then pulled away to stare at his face. He'd been worried about her and it was only now that he took a moment to realize she smelled like heat and the faint smell of smoke.

He'd asked her where she was and she'd told him she made a quick stop by Chris's concert, the one he was doing with his band. He'd wondered why she didn't tell him she was going there, why she didn't even drop him a line. She said she thought she had and when she looked at her phone, the message was there, but she'd forgotten to send it. She apologized and he'd accepted, but wondered if that was why she'd been on edge the entire evening, if she was just biding her time until she could steal away and go see Chris in concert.

She'd told him over breakfast that Chris had invited her, but she knew it wasn't his thing so she'd not invited him along. He didn't like her explanation, but what could he realistically do? Go back in time and stop her from going? They were friends after all and she never stopped him from going out with any of his friends, never a word passed from her lips in protest to him going out for hours with Shawn. She never called him to check up and never pressed for information when she came back. They were trusting, but maybe, just maybe he was too trusting.

There were times in his relationship with Stephanie that he believed her to be having an affair with Chris Irvine. It wasn't that way immediately. He hadn't one day woken up with this suspicion. It happened in 2002, before they were even engaged to be married. Chris had proposed a storyline wherein Chris and Stephanie would have been having an affair the entire time he was away rehabbing. He'd been quick to protest, but Stephanie had said nary a word. It raised red flags in his mind, but when he'd protested, Chris had not fought and neither had Stephanie so he'd set it aside as just one man's ambition to get to the top.

Don't get him wrong, he trusted Stephanie implicitly, but he couldn't keep the thoughts out of his mind. He understood a man and woman could be friends and Chris was still married and had three kids of his own, but still…there were times. Like when Chris had come back from his hiatus or whatever the hell he called it. Stephanie had wanted him back. They'd been talking in bed one night, a rare night when Aurora was completely conked out and was not going to wake up during the night. She'd just come out and said that she wished Chris would come back already. He was aware they kept in touch. She mostly made him aware of anything that dealt with Chris, another way that he could squelch those affair thoughts in his mind.

She said she wished he'd come back and then she up and made it happen. It was like she asked and he immediately said yes to her, like he couldn't say no. Then another red flag right where he'd taken away the last one. Why was he so willing to come back? It had been two years and what, one word from Stephanie was all it would ever have taken to get him to come back? Then Stephanie, who considered this a coup, was extremely into him coming back, setting up the entire "Save Us" campaign and then wanting to push him to the moon. He'd admit it, if only to himself that he was jealous.

Yes, he, Paul Levesque, was jealous of Chris Irvine.

It felt like Chris had Stephanie in ways that he couldn't and it bothered him. He was married to her, had kids with her, and yet, there was something off-limits to her when she was discussing Chris. He had come first and Paul could never change that, no matter how hard he tried. Maybe it wasn't a physical affair, but Chris had part of her that he didn't get and it bothered him to no end. Yes, maybe the journey of his hatred was just beginning really. He was a suspicious man in general so this did not bode well for him.

When Murphy was born, he didn't know why, but he'd had doubts, little ones, like nanobots that burrowed themselves in his skin and took residence in his brain. The doubts quickly faded, like rain on a humid day. Then, now that Murphy was older, they came back with a vengeance. It was just little things. Murphy was blonder than he'd ever been and Stephanie was not blonde at all, shouldn't her hair be darker? Why was it curly? He'd never had a curly-headed day in his life and he'd seen Stephanie's baby pictures and her hair was straighter than an arrow. Then Paul had seen Chris's daughters and they looked a bit like Murphy. Was he crazy, probably, but with the nature of Chris's relationship to Stephanie, he wondered, maybe just obliquely, if Murphy was not his daughter, which lead him to thinking about this newest child.

Then there had been their storyline from 2008, which they'd both lobbied for. It was a lot harder this time around to convince them to nix that and go with Randy Orton in Chris's spot. They hadn't seemed happy with it, but again, they didn't protest it so maybe this really was just in his head and he was projecting something onto them that wasn't really there in the first place.

So here he sat, parsing out these thoughts as wrestlers who had come before him were inducted into the Hall of Fame. He'd be there someday and he'd already chosen Shawn to induct him. Stephanie was sitting next to him, angry _again_ over something he didn't know and _again_, this was making him angry too. She looked beautiful tonight, he'd told her so earlier and she'd just grunted as she continued to put on her makeup. He'd been readily rebuffed at her response and their conversation, which merely consisted of a word here and there, was brusque for the entirety of the evening. She kept looking around, looking bored and it was affecting his own mood.

When it was finally over, everyone milled about. He stood, talking to his father with Stephanie standing idly next to him, still with that disinterested look on her face. It was too bad that such a pretty face was marred by that look. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Chris dodging people to get over to where they were. Then, the smile he'd been looking for and trying to get all evening graced her face, making her beam and it was towards _him_. Red flag, red flag, red goddamn flag! He turned towards them, but Stephanie was already turning towards Chris. His father's words started to muddle together as he focused on Stephanie and Chris, who were talking in low voices. He inched closer to her, possessively he knew, and kind of stood on the outskirts, a place he felt a lot when she was with Chris.

"So how funny was Uecker's speech?" Chris laughed and Stephanie laughed as well. He'd made jokes earlier and she'd barely deigned him with a look.

"It was hilarious. God, I remember being around Andre when I was little and it was always just a crazy feeling, especially when you're a kid, you just look up and then you keep looking up and looking up and then you see this face and you're terrified, but then he was so nice," she explained. He inched closer as it seemed Stephanie was inching closer to Chris.

"He was larger than life almost literally," Chris joked.

"So Jessica isn't here tonight?" Stephanie asked, looking around. Paul listened to her voice, trying to detect anything from it, but it was a simple question.

"Nah, she…well, she took a vacation earlier this week and I was at home so we kind of switched places," he said hesitantly.

"Oh, that's too bad," she told him. "I can't believe she missed your concert last night, it was completely epic. I've never seen you play live before and so this was a new experience for me and you are quite the showman."

"Like you didn't already know that," he teased and their rapport was so familiar. They really were two old friends. Maybe he was just seeing things and there was truly nothing there to worry about. He probably was. "I'm glad you could come." Hunter tried not to stare, but he could feel a little glance from Chris and it was one that was wondering how much Stephanie had told him about where she'd been.

"I'm glad I could come too," she told him, her voice becoming softer. He thought she only used that voice for him so hearing her use it with him was a shot to the stomach, but he bit his tongue, just watching them, as if watching them would hold all the secrets. "I had a great time."

A great time doing what?

"Oh, the baby just kicked," Stephanie said, laughing and placing her hand on her stomach. "Do you want to feel?"

Paul almost did a double take and then did when Chris reached forward and pressed his hand against _his_ wife's stomach. What the hell was going on? His jaw slowly dropped as he watched. Stephanie looked up at Chris expectantly, waiting for him to feel and when he wasn't, she grabbed his wrist and moved it a little on her stomach. He couldn't believe his eyes. Stephanie _hated_ when people touched her stomach while she was pregnant. It was one of her biggest pet peeves. She'd actually _snapped_ at old ladies when she'd been pregnant with Aurora. But Chris was the exception? His grubby hand all over her stomach like he owned it?

"Oh wow," Chris said. "That's awesome." He laughed, obviously having felt the baby kick. It was _not_ his baby, it was Paul's and he felt compelled to say something, to blurt out that he needed to step back and then he would pull Stephanie away from him. "I haven't felt that in a really long time, not since…Murphy probably."

Murphy? Why Murphy?

"Oh yeah, God, she was like an acrobat in there, I swear, she's still like that, always trying to jump off furniture, I'm not sure she doesn't realize she doesn't have a harness attached. Didn't you say Cheyenne was like that?"

Why was Stephanie comparing their daughter with Chris's daughter? Why? And why was Chris's hand _still_ on her stomach. He was almost willing it away when Chris pulled it away and good thing too.

"Yeah, my little Chey the flyer. She loves to fly around like a crazy person, airplane is still her favorite game," Chris chuckled and Paul wanted to rip this guy's throat out. Here Chris was, making his wife laugh and smile and talk and he'd been trying _all_ evening and nothing! There was no justice in this.

Chris had a part of Stephanie he would never have. Why? He didn't know. He just had her in a way that Pau would never have her. They'd not looked once in his direction to include him in their conversation. Instead, they were off in their own world. He'd ignored the rumors he heard, the whispers, he'd ignored them all, but they didn't have to have sex to cheat. They were cheating right now, right in front of him and neither one even cared. Chris had carved a niche in Stephanie's heart and it was obvious he would never reach or fill that niche, it was Chris's and Chris's alone. Chris owned that part of her, had owned it even before he had come and claimed however much of Stephanie's heart he did own, where it felt like it depleted more and more each day.

In that way, _he_ was the other man.


	2. Chapter 2

A/N: Thank you SO much for the reviews for this, I'm so pleasantly surprised you liked it because well, it's H for goodness sakes! lol Anyways, I found it really funny that despite me thinking I was writing H all sympathetic and Chris and Steph as the bad guys, everyone still wants Chris/Stephanie together! I guess that goes to show their power. Anyways, I know I said it was a two-parter, but it looks like it will be a three-parter. Beyond that, probably nothing, but still, there is one more chapter on the way. Hope you enjoy this one and leave a review if your fingers feel so inclined. :)

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"This is a nightmare!"

He looked over at her. She was sitting at her desk in their home office. The kids were taking a nap at the moment and he was hanging out with her. Things were stressful because the majority of the WWE roster was stuck in Europe. The SmackDown crew were better off; they were taking a bus ride to Madrid and catching a flight there. It was looking more and more likely that the Raw crew was not going to get home, which was sending Stephanie into a frenzy. Her hair was pulled back and out of her face and she wasn't wearing any make-up, but she was wearing a look of horror as she tried to contemplate all the plans for Raw going right out the window.

"Okay, so we're going to need to set it up so the SmackDown guys are here for the show and then we'll have to think of some segments on the fly because everything is going to hell now. Then…well, we have you," she said, glancing over at him. "So you're at least someone there. I think we can have it set up so that we have videos of the Raw guys so they can at least say something. Air travel is still restricted where they are, I don't know if they're even going to make it for SmackDown so we can just switch it up a little."

"You need to calm down," Paul said, going behind her and massaging her shoulders. "You're pregnant and you need to calm down. The baby isn't going to appreciate the constant jostling and freaking out."

She laughed a little as he came around and knelt in front of her, placing his hands on her knees. "I just don't know what to do. I mean, I've never been in a situation like this before, nobody has so there's no precedent. I mean, we're going to have to completely rewrite the show. I know we do rewrites even late into Monday, but we've never had to completely overhaul the show because nobody will be there."

"Hey, come on, it's not going to be as bad as you think, everyone is going to understand this is a unique--" He was cut off by her cell phone ringing. It was Chris's theme song so he didn't need to guess who it was. He scowled a little, but she ignored it and went straight for the phone, like she forgot he was even there.

"Hello?" she said, then visibly relaxed. "Hey, Chris, what's going on now?"

Hunter pushed himself away from her and stood up. He didn't really want to stay there and listen, but he did stay there because he kind of wanted to hear the end of their conversation. Stephanie had taken some time off from traveling so she hadn't spent time with Chris since that night at the Hall of Fame. She'd been sweet and attentive with him and he'd convinced himself that things were going well between them and maybe he'd been wrong all along and they really were just friends and everything would sort itself out.

"No, do not say that!" Stephanie laughed. Why was it he could calm her down in moments when he tried and tried and still go nothing? "Chris, you cannot post that, everyone is going to think you're on the verge of death."

He wanted to tell her that he could make her laugh and smile if she would just let him. It was like what took him great effort took little to no effort with Chris. He did not hang around the man much, but from what he knew of him, he was always making people laugh. It was one of the things that bothered him when Chris had first come into the company, when Kevin had told him to be wary of him. Chris had an infectious personality and it wasn't long before everyone was his friend. Even Shawn, his _best_ friend, genuinely liked Chris and hung out with him sometimes. Still, nothing stung more than Stephanie.

"I'm not going to let you put that you're teetering over a cliff," Stephanie laughed again, her mood completely lifted. She paused a moment and then responded. "I know, it's going to be rough, we're going to try and write you guys into the show and then put some videos of the Raw guys."

Why did she sound so rational and level-headed now? What secret did Chris hold? Was it the tone of his voice? Was he just more reassuring than he was? Paul knew that he could be gruff and maybe unfriendly, but he tried not to be that way around his family. Aurora and Murphy seemed to like him just fine.

"Yeah, you're right," she sighed. "I know, it's just…well, it's just a complete overhaul." Stephanie paused again to listen to what Chris had to say and Paul held his breath, wondering what Chris was saying to her. It couldn't be words of love. Chris was on a bus surrounded by their coworkers, there was no way that he would be so bold as to tell Stephanie something like he loved her or wanted to be with her or in her and Paul shuddered inwardly at that disgusting thought. The image of Stephanie and Chris in bed revolted him.

"Yes, yes, I know you're a professional," Stephanie giggled. "Okay, yes, I better get back to work. I guess I'll see you later." She closed her eyes and then laughed again. "I do too, bye, Chris."

"So that was Chris?" he asked when she hung up the phone. Chris's name felt like bile running against his tongue, like sandpaper.

"Yeah, he said he wants to update me every five minutes," she laughed, "but I talked him down to calling every hour. He's letting me know the progress of the Raw crew. He was joking that he's going to start acting like the bus is going to break down to freak everyone out. He's crazy."

"Sounds it," Paul muttered.

"Something wrong, Paul?" Stephanie asked curiously. He looked down at her and she was looking up at him questioningly. He longed to ask her about the real nature of her relationship with Chris, but this was neither the time nor the place. He was just a paranoid husband whose wife had a close friendship with another man. That was all. He kept reminding himself of that so as to keep as much of his sanity as he could.

"No, nothing, just hope that everything works out. I don't want you so stressed, especially not when you're pregnant."

"Come here," she said, grabbing the hem of his shirt and bringing him down, kissing him slowly. She pulled away and then made a face at him. She did love him, he had to believe, he just had to. "Look, I'm _fine_, okay. I'm just on edge with the whole situation over in Europe, with everyone so far away and up in the air, but I'll be fine, the baby will be fine too, I promise. Besides, I've got Chris updating me on where the crew is and you know what he did this morning?"

Paul didn't really want to know what Chris did, but he was imagining something heroic that made him look better in Stephanie's eyes. It was hard competing with a man when you didn't even know if you were really in a competition. It gave Chris and unfair advantage. Paul didn't know when to strike or if he _should_ strike. Chris had all the balls in his court and Paul had none and it wasn't fair, this entire thing was not fair.

"What did he do?"

"Well, before they left…yeah, before they left, he sent me something where I could track his phone," she said, turning her laptop towards him. "He has this application where it's a GPS thing and so I can see exactly where in the world they are right now. I've been tracking their progress all morning. It's great. He's a genius. I never would have thought of that."

Point to Chris.

"That's really great."

"I know, I'll be so relieved when I see that dot over here," she said, pointing to the East Coast of the United States. "Then I won't have to worry any more, at least not for a little while."

"Yeah, that must be great," he said. He kind of wished that dot would go right over there, his eyes looking towards Antarctica. Maybe Chris could spend the rest of his life on a nice ice floe. That would be perfectly suitable for Paul.

"It is," she said, then smiled over at him. "You sure you're okay? Oh, are you worrying with me, you're such a sweet husband."

"Just sweet?" he asked playfully. Push Chris out of his mind and then work on pushing Chris out of _her_ mind.

"Um, sweet…funny…kind…do you want me to go on?"

"You can go on," he said. He just wanted to hear it from her lips. He wanted her voice to tell her things like this because if she did then Chris would be gone. He wouldn't be this phantom third wheel.

"Um, a great wrestler…a great man…great friend…you're just an all-around great guy," she laughed. He smiled and brushed some of her hair away from her face. He was going to lean in and kiss her, but Chris's theme music hit again and her eyes lit up. He wanted to deny that those eyes lit up for Chris, but he couldn't deny it. She gave him a peck on the lips and then grabbed the phone. "I told you every hour, not every five minutes!"

Paul had to leave then. He just had to. He couldn't sit by and watch as his wife, the woman he loved, pulled farther and farther away from him. He shouldn't feel this way in a marriage, like he was the outsider and in the times that Chris was not in the picture, he didn't feel that way, but Chris was becoming more and more prominent. Before he'd left on his extended hiatus from the company, their friendship was strong, but not as strong as it was now. Now things were different and they were inseparable and Paul felt like he was being phased out of the equation and one day he would come home and the locks would be changed on his front door. He couldn't live like that, with this fear eating away at his insides, but what could he do?

He went upstairs and peeked in on his daughters. He looked for a long moment at Murphy, tracing her features with his eyes, trying to put her face side-by-side with Chris's kids. He tried to line them up. Stop torturing yourself, he kept trying to tell himself, stop this torture.

Except the torture kept coming. He woke up the next morning to Stephanie's hand rubbing his back. He opened his eyes and saw her kneeling next to the bed. He attempted to pull her back in when he saw she was dressed. "Where are you going so early in the morning?"

"Chris's hotel room," she told him, running her finger down his jaw. "The girls are still asleep so can you take care of them for the day? I'd bring them with me, but I don't want to bug Chris."

"His hotel room?" he asked, his voice rising at the end, sitting up in a flash. "What are you going to do there?"

"We're just going to hang out. Well, I'm going to hang out. He's going to try and write some more chapters for his book. I think he's actually going to cover our storyline and well, he didn't say he needed me there, but his goal is to write 25 pages today, which is ambitious and so I'm just going to keep him company and help him remember some of the stuff that happened with our storylines. It'll be fun, I haven't really gotten to hang out with him in a while."

"I don't like that you're going."

"Why?" she asked.

Here was the moment of truth, did he tell her what he thought was going on between her and Chris? Or did he chicken out and just tell her some bullshit lie to keep her here? He didn't know which way to turn, which one would yield the deeper results. If he chose the first, then she'd probably slap him and storm out and right to Chris. If he took the second, there was a chance she'd stay. So he chickened out.

"Well, I mean, you know the girls love to spend time with you," he said, hoping that using their daughters would make Stephanie stay.

"It's just for the day, besides, they need Daddy time too," Stephanie said, leaning over and kissing her cheek. "Have fun today."

"Stephanie," he said, grabbing her hand. She turned back to him.

"Huh? What?"

"Do you really have to go?" he asked. Did she really have to choose Chris _again_ over him? That's what it was feeling like. Like every time she had to make a choice, Chris was the one she chose. Just once, he wanted to believe that she would choose him, just Paul.

"Yeah, I promised Chris, plus, I want his book to do me justice and the only way to ensure that is to make sure that he writes me correctly," Stephanie said with a laugh and a stern look. She was so pretty, he thought to himself. Everyone who met her loved her and even the people that hated her, once they saw that smile and her genuineness, they couldn't help but love her, like he did.

"Well, if you're sure…"

"Hunter, it's the day, we're not running off together," she joked, but that made him even feel worse. No, she'd probably grab the girls and take them before running off with Chris. He felt low at that moment. Just so very low and small and insignificant in his wife's life. "Don't worry, I'll make him say nice things about you, but you'll never read the book so it wouldn't matter. Hey, maybe I'll make him vent about you then, but I'll just be projecting."

He didn't say anything and she sat on the bed and kissed him. "I love you," he mumbled.

"And I you," she told him, kissing him again before breezing out of the room and down the stairs and out the door and straight to Chris, who would make her smile and laugh and write about her with pretty words that Hunter could not come up with.

She hadn't even really said she loved him.


	3. Chapter 3

A/N: Thanks for all the great reviews everyone, glad that I didn't make anyone dislike Chris and Steph. Anyways, this is the conclusion and while I'm not happy with it and may revise it, I don't know, or add more maybe, I'm just not sure, I wanted to put this one in the complete pile. I hope that it satisfies everyone and if it doesn't, sorry. So enjoy, hopefully, and if you want to review, I'd be appreciative, even if you think it sucks. :)

* * *

They started dating four months after the divorce was finalized.

It was entirely his fault to boot. It was like pouring salt in the wound except this wound was entirely self-inflicted. His own paranoia and worry had overtaken his common sense and he'd lost her, it was as simple as that. He knew books and poems and songs had been written about the heartache, losing someone, not feeling whole again, but it was never that complicated. Stupid people say that true love never comes easy, but it does. It did, for him, the true love part was the easiest part of it and he had screwed it up and it was so simple and he had been so stupid.

"_Guess what? Guess what?" Stephanie said as she burst into his dressing room. He'd just been pulling on his kneepad and she came bounding in. Well, as bounding as she could be being pregnant as she was._

"_What?"_

"_Guess how _you_ are going to spend your summer?" she told him, her eyes lighting up. They were for him, those eyes, they were for him. So many times he had to see those same eyes light up in the same way except they were directed at someone else. He didn't have to force this smile on his face because this was a real one._

"_How am I going to spend my summer?" He secretly wished she could travel with him, that she would tell him she was going to be here week in and week out for _him_, with no mention of Chris Irvine in there whatsoever. He was becoming a desperate man. He felt like all his happiness was tied with the likes of another man and what role that man played in his life. _

"_Well, you are going to be starring in two, count them two, movies," Stephanie said, grinning at him. He just kind of sat there and she looked at him in confusion. "Okay, this is where you think it's great and how cool it is that you're going to be starring in a couple movies and the movie premieres and all that good stuff. So feel free to react starting…now."_

"_What about wrestling?" he asked. "I kind of have a job here."_

"_Yes, and you can kind of get out of it," Stephanie said, "because you kind of have connections, but only slight ones of course. I'm kidding, anyways, we're going to write in an injury storyline, which will also give you time to heal up and then you are off to film some movies."_

_She sat down next to him, nudging him in the shoulder. "Where am I going to be filming?"_

"_New Orleans," she told him, "and I believe Toronto."_

"_Are you coming?" he asked her._

"_No, I won't be, I'll be at home, you know, being pregnant," she told him, pointing at her stomach. "Are you not excited? I was talking with my dad and we thought you would be excited. I know you've wanted to do more film stuff since you were in Blade and so I thought that you would be excited for this, especially after losing out on that Thor role, which I still think you would've been great at."_

_He gave a slight smile for that. "So you'll be at home…alone?"_

"_I'll have the girls with me," she told him. "Don't worry, my mom will check in on me while you're away and Shane can even check in on me and while the company is close by I'm sure I'll get some big, tough wrestlers to check in on me if you wish. Hell, I know Chris will, he's always in New York doing something."_

_And therein lay the problem. He tried to put it out of his mind, but something felt like she was intentionally pushing him away. He knew he should tell her these concerns, but she could lie, she was good at lying, an expert really. He had this bad feeling in the pit of his stomach. If he was off filming, on a tight schedule, anyone could come see her, anyone could see her and nobody would know. Chris was always in New York, convenient story. The man could be there all the time if he desired and he would know exactly when he could come and go. Paul couldn't just pop back home when he wanted, not on a movie set. He had to live by the director's rules._

"_I'm not sure I want to do this."_

"_Are you kidding me?" she asked. "Paul, you've been wanting this forever, you even lobbied to make more movies, what is wrong with this set-up?"_

"_I don't want to be away from you, you know, the pregnancy."_

"_Is that all?" she asked. "You'll probably be back by the time the kid is born anyways."_

"_But this whole checking in thing…what if you need something in the middle of the night?"_

"_I don't know, I'll go get it?" she told him, rolling his eyes a little. "I can have my mom stay with me if you want, if you're so concerned."_

"_Well," he said._

_The door opened and it was Chris. "Oh, hey, guys, I just heard about the movie, Paul, nice one, Steph, do you think I could talk to you for a little while?"_

"_Of course," she said and there were those eyes again. "Paul, can we talk later?"_

_He believed they really needed to talk later. "Yeah, sure," he nodded._

"_Thanks," she said, kissing his cheek before standing up and going over to Chris, who smiled widely as she approached. They went just outside the door and he watched it as it closed and he felt compelled to go listen to their conversation, if they were indeed having it in the hallway. Maybe they would sneak back to Chris's locker room to "talk." And there he went jumping to conclusions. Stephanie had never given him any concrete reason to suspect her of infidelity, but it was all the little moments, those tiny moments that she probably thought he didn't see that made him so suspicious. They added up until he just couldn't ignore them any longer._

"_So what is it?" He could hear her through the door, muffled, but he could still hear her. He felt bad for a moment, but the thought of them together made him push his ear closer to the door to try and hear them more clearly._

"_Well, my agent called me and-"_

"_You're not leaving again, are you?" she asked, the apprehension in her voice sailing right through the door. "Do not make me go through all that trouble I went through when I had to get you back the first time."_

_Paul could hear Chris laughing and it bubbled in his stomach. He never did find out what Stephanie had done to get Chris back. He'd been angry though, not necessarily at the man's return, but that he'd so readily come back at Stephanie's insistence and that they'd thought of this whole savior storyline. It had been Stephanie's idea and somehow felt like a slight to him that she thought Chris a savior in any sense of the word. The tongue lashing she'd given him at his childish antics hadn't been worth it, he decided long afterwards._

"_Steph, no, you don't have to worry, I'm not going anywhere," Chris told her and he could almost see Stephanie's hand on her stomach, calming herself down._

"_Okay, so what did your agent want? Is it about your contract, I know it's coming up at the end of this year and if you want more-"_

"_Again, Steph, no, would you just let me finish my sentence, you never let me finish anything," he told her and Paul didn't want to infer any flirtatiousness in the sentence, but he just couldn't help but hear it, whether it was there or not._

"_You're right, go ahead, finish your sentence, I will stand here and listen."_

"_Thank you," he told her. "Anyways, this production company is looking for a host for a summer game show. It'd be six episodes, all filmed over three days. They put me on the short list for hosts. They really seem to want me so they want to do a try out so I was hoping I could get out of some house shows to go to LA to do that, plus, if I do get the gig, I'm probably going to need a few days off, nothing TV-related, just some house shows."_

"_Wow, what kind of game show, like Price is Right or something?" she asked._

_He laughed, "No, I don't think so, I'm not entirely sure on the concept yet, I figure I'll find out when I do the audition, but I'm going to need time and well, you're a lot less scary than your dad."_

"_Aww, really?" she said, then laughed. "Of course you can. I'm proud of you for getting this."_

"_I haven't gotten it yet," he reminded her._

"_You will, I have total faith in you," she said, "and at least someone is excited about something around here."_

"_What do you mean by that?"_

_Paul heard Stephanie sigh. "It's Paul. I told him about these movies, you know, you heard about it, you just said so. He doesn't seem excited. I don't know what his problem is. Sometimes…"_

"_I know," Chris said and Paul cursed him out for not allowing Stephanie to finish her sentence. He needed her to finish her sentence._

"_Yeah, you do," she said. "You always do."_

"_Come here," he said and Paul could hear no more._

_When she came to their hotel room later that night after a meeting with her father, he was ready and waiting for her. He sat on the bed as she came into the room. "Hey, Paul, I'm exhausted, I think I'm going to hit the sheets early tonight. I think it's the pregnancy making me so tired."_

"_Are you sleeping with him?"_

_Stephanie's head flew up and she looked at him. "Excuse me? What…what are you talking about? _Who_ are you talking about?"_

"_You know damn well who I'm talking about," he said, trying to keep his voice still because he feared if he let it all out it would start to shake. He felt like he was starting to shake._

"_No, I don't, I…I have no idea what you're talking about."_

"_Don't play dumb with me!" he shouted and she shrank back a little bit._

"_I'm sorry, I can't _play_ dumb when I don't know _what_ you're talking about!" she shot back at him. He would never touch her, he knew it, she knew it, so she stood up to him as only she could. He was so blinded, the thoughts and pictures and images that he didn't even know were real or not assailed him and drove him crazy. He was certifiably crazy now, his emotions all out of whack and all he could picture was losing her and losing her to him and losing everything. He didn't want to lose everything, but he was, he felt it all slipping._

"_You and Chris! I know about you two!"_

"_What?" she shouted at him, shaking her head and narrowing her eyes before she folded her arms over his stomach. "Tell me something, _Paul_," and she said his name so derisively that he could hardly stand it. "What exactly do you _know_?"_

"_I know that you two are sleeping together!"_

They'd never slept together. He knew that now, months and months later. It'd been eight months since that conversation. She'd been so angry with him, so hurt in his distrust she'd left him anyways. She'd told him she couldn't get over the fact he didn't trust her. She'd tried. They'd tried for a few weeks after, but it wasn't the same. She looked at him in disgust and he looked at her in shame and then they just stopped talking. He'd found her crying one night and he'd tried to comfort her and she told him to get the hell away from him. He'd screwed it all up. It was his fault.

All his daughters were his, yes, all. He hadn't been there when she went into labor. He'd been at the hospital, but she'd refused to see him. He'd accused her that night, the night he made everything wrong in his world, of having children with Chris, that she'd been lying to him all this time. She wasn't. They were his, from Aurora right on down to Carsyn, their four month old daughter. They shared custody though she had physical custody of them since he traveled so much. He wished they could raise their daughters together, but she'd been hurt.

He'd heard from others that Chris had been there for her, been a friend to her and nothing more. Unbeknownst to anyone, Chris and his wife had already been in the process of a divorce. So Chris had the time to comfort Stephanie. He'd heard the whispers about him, that people couldn't believe he would accuse Stephanie so harshly and how ironic it was that his worst fear was now coming true. And it did come true. Except it came true because he'd pushed them together. If he'd never accused her, they would still be together and she would not be with Chris right now. She wouldn't be happy and he wouldn't have to see them holding hands when she came to visit or when she came to let him see the girls.

He heard that Chris's kids and his kids were getting along wonderfully and it hurt him that this was even the situation, but he'd done it to himself and so he had to take his punishment. He'd learned his lesson in the harshest way and this was now his life. His punishment was to see the two of them together. He'd believed and he'd been wrong.

Now all he could do was watch.

The End


End file.
